The appointment of Dharavi MLA, Varsha Gaikwad, as the new president of the Mumbai Congress has triggered a fresh wave of internal conflict within the Maharashtra Congress, which is already battling factionalism.
Following Ms. Gaikwad’s appointment, certain office-bearers from the previous administration had expressed unease with the new power equation as she apparently intended to remove their nameplates at the regional office and had tried to curtail their authority. She purportedly stated that her appointment marked the dissolution of the previous executive committee led by Bhai Jagtap, with new members set to be announced in due course.
Mumbai Congress leaders wasted no time in reaching out to their national president Mallikarjun Kharge to seek his intervention, who in turn contacted Ms. Gaikwad to discuss the situation and asked her to prioritise unity and inclusiveness within the Mumbai Congress ahead of crucial civic polls and the next year’s Parliament and Assembly elections.
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Ms. Gaikwad vehemently refuted the accusations levelled against her and told The Hindu that she was working in collaboration with all members to build a united front within the Mumbai Congress.
“I didn’t try to remove the nameplates or curtail any leader’s powers in the party. Everybody is working together to strengthen the party. These are mere allegations by some leaders,” she said.
When asked about Mr. Kharge’s phone call to her over allegations of internal discord and power struggles, Ms. Gaikwad, the first woman chief of the Mumbai Congress, said that she had not received any call from the party president. “In fact, I called Mr. Kharge after the announcement of my name to thank him, and that was the last conversation I had with him. In a day or two, I’m planning to visit Delhi and will seek his appointment,” Ms. Gaikwad said.
However, the charges are not mere speculations, as other senior Congress leaders told The Hindu that the new president had the misconception that her appointment marked the dissolution of the previous committee.
“She started telling everybody that there is nobody and she herself is the president. If the executive committee is dissolved, then the district presidents are also part of the committee. It means the whole structure, including block presidents, gets dismantled. If she dismantles everything, then how is she going to run the show?” a senior Congress leader asked.
He said that Ms. Gaikwad could not get a new committee within a week or 10 days and it would take time as there is always a churning period in Congress. “The issue was taken to the notice of Mr. Kharge and he immediately informed her that nothing has dissolved and only she has been appointed, and she has to take everybody together and work. Even Congress General Secretary K.C. Venugopal spoke to her over the phone,” the Congressman said.
With a new feud in the Maharashtra Congress, which is already divided between Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee chief Nana Patole and other old-timers, including Congress Legislative Party leader Balasaheb Thorat, the delay in reconstituting the Congress Working Committee and the absence of a full-time All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary in-charge for the State has further aggravated the situation. Senior Congress leader H.K. Patil was relieved as the AICC Maharashtra unit in-charge after he assumed charge as a Minister in Siddaramaiah’s government in neighbouring Karnataka. The party is yet to announce a new in-charge for Maharashtra.
